Sunriver's urban renewal project

Sunriver is a very high-end resort community here in Central Oregon. One thing you need to understand about this community is that there are two groups here. One group of folks are the laborers here -- the folks that run the resturaunts, stores, the contractors, etc... . And then there are the folks that run the high-end places that cater to the high-end tourists. The latter group wants to make Sunriver as nice (and expensive and yuppy) as possible, and doesn't want anything to bring down the image of the area. That would mean any homes that are associated with lower class living.

So when I got an instant message from Barney yesterday, asking me if I had heard about a mobile home fire in Sunriver, I was a bit confused. "I didn't think there were any mobile homes in Sunriver." Apparently there was (up in an area I don't make it to very often). And it was the last one.

The cause of the fire is blamed on electrical problems. The best quote of the story was from the guy that owns the stables, which are out in that area. He jokingly said that the blazes were part of an "urban improvement" project. Honestly, I don't think he's too far off there, as I know there are some very large homes out in that area (we're talking upwards of million-dollar homes with airplane hangers), and there are some folks who own a good chunk of land out there. All it would take is a few phone calls and, for the right price, I'm sure that home could "disappear." I wouldn't be surprised if something like that did happen, but it will never come to the surface, so I'm not going to worry too much about it.